COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Volunteers at the North American Aerospace Defense Command are monitoring Santa Claus as he makes his storybook Christmas Eve flight. So far, NORAD says it used the heat signature from Rudolph's nose to track him over Japan and later spotted him over the Great Wall of China.

TOKYO (AP) — Shinzo Abe took office Wednesday for a third term as Japan's prime minister, appointing a former military officer as his defense minister but keeping the other members of his previous Cabinet.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — It's Christmas season and the little town of Bethlehem is jammed with a big-city problem: Traffic snarling streets everywhere, including around the church marking the spot where tradition says Jesus was born. The city is considering a dramatic solution to the problem — digging a tunnel under Manger Square.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba's point person on U.S. relations says anything is up for discussion as the two countries move to re-establish diplomatic ties, from anti-drug cooperation to joint environmental agreements.

NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Cocker, the raspy-voiced British singer known for his frenzied cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends," the teary ballad "You Are So Beautiful" and a contorted performing style uncannily parodied by John Belushi on "Saturday Night Live," has died. He was 70.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Key North Korean websites were back online Tuesday after a nearly 10-hour shutdown that followed a U.S. vow to respond to a crippling cyberattack on Sony Pictures that Washington blames on Pyongyang.